Clippy, the animated paper clip that annoyed Microsoft Office users nearly three decades ago, might have just been ahead of its time. Microsoft introduced a new artificial intelligence character called Mico (pronounced MEE’koh) on Thursday, a floating cartoon face shaped like a blob or flame that will embody the software giant’s Copilot virtual assistant and […]

Marineland says it has more than a dozen reasons why none of its remaining 30 belugas should be sent to a proposed whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia. The shuttered Ontario theme park, which is trying to sell the whales to avoid bankruptcy, made headlines last week when Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson denied Marineland’s request […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing Zillow and Redfin, accusing the real estate companies of entering what the regulator says is an illegal deal to suppress competition in online rental advertising. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the FTC alleges that this agreement started in February — when Zillow paid […]

LONDON (AP) — Harrods, the luxury British department store, has warned some customers that their personal data may have been taken in a breach of its online systems. The company said late Friday that some names and contact details of its online customers were taken after one of its third-party provider systems was compromised. “We […]

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal trial beginning in Amazon’s hometown this week is set to examine whether the online retailing giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime service and made it difficult to cancel after they did so. The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon in U.S. District Court in Seattle two years ago […]

One of two finalists in the competition to build the Royal Canadian Navy’s next fleet of submarines is pitching multiple industrial partnerships and economic benefits in the hopes of sealing the deal. Hanwha Oceans is floating various industrial-technological benefit collaborations that could involve investments in Canadian lithium-ion battery production, liquefied natural gas, aerospace, steel, critical […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury has ordered Google to pay $425.7 million for improperly snooping on people’s smartphones during a nearly decade-long period of intrusions. The verdict reached Wednesday in San Francisco federal court followed a more than two-week trial in a class-action case covering about 98 million smartphones operating in the United […]

WestJet says some personal data including information about travel documents such as passports was stolen in a cyberattack earlier this year, but credit and debit card numbers as well as user passwords were not compromised. In a note to customers, WestJet says the personal information taken varies from person to person but may include name, […]

permanent jobs to the region, at a special meeting held on July 15. The request for a letter of support came from Coun. Ben Fadeyiw of the MD of Bonnyville, who reached out to the Cold Lake mayor’s office directly.  The MD’s proposal is in response to a Request for Information (RFI) issued by Invest […]

A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships, has been blocked by a federal appeals court just days before it was set to go into effect. The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed changes, adopted in October, required businesses to obtain a customer’s consent before […]

An eastern Canadian conservation group is calling for a moratorium on aquaculture expansion in Newfoundland and Labrador, alleging fish-farming companies are stashing plastic garbage along the province’s remote southern coastline. In a report summary released Tuesday, the Atlantic Salmon Federation said satellite images suggest aquaculture companies appear to have left broken cages, rope and other […]

NEW YORK (AP) — When the Trump family unveiled a new phone before a giant American flag at its headquarters earlier this month, the pitch was simple and succinct, packed with pure patriotism: “Made in the U.S.A.” The Trumps are apparently having second thoughts. How about “proudly American”? Those are the two words that have replaced the […]